Apple Could Be Ready to Launch the Next HomePod – Video
Speaker 1: Is another home pod on the way a reliable analyst says yes, and WWDC is just around the corner. Let’s speculate.
Speaker 1: This is the only available home pod right now, the $99 home pod mini, which debuted in 2020, this is the original home pod. It was $350 and then it was $300. Now [00:00:30] you can’t have it. It was discontinued unless it’s about to make a comeback WWDC Apple’s big developer conference is coming up quickly. Could apple be about to debut a new version of their home pot? We’re gonna talk about why we have a realistic hope of this happening. Then we’ll talk about our reasonable expectations for the device before finally speculating wildly on what we might like to [00:01:00] see a reliable supply chain analyst named minchi quo tweeted. There may not be much innovation in hardware. Design, smart speakers are undoubtedly one of the essential elements of the home ecosystem, but I think apple is still figuring out how to succeed in this market. Not much in the way of hardware innovation, O so yay to the possibility of a new smart speaker with a heaping sprinkle of doubt as [00:01:30] to whether it’s actually gonna be innovative and exciting.
Speaker 1: According to the website, nine to five Mac, the most likely conclusion to draw from this is that apple will have a new speaker similar to their previous efforts only potentially at a new price. The most obvious place to look is between the $100 mini and the previous $300 speaker. Maybe they found a way to make a bigger speaker, more affordable. If it’s similar in look and feel to [00:02:00] the old home pod, AKA not very innovative, but it’s significantly cheaper while still sounding just as good. That’s at least something than a $200 home pod. I do not expect apple to compromise on sound quality and they never go on the cheap end. Both Google and Amazon have similar mini smart speakers for 50 bucks, but I don’t think Apple’s gonna try to match them there. They like being on the premium end of things. [00:02:30] So I doubt we’re gonna see something smaller and or cheaper than this.
Speaker 1: If it’s a full home pod brought down to a more reasonable mid-ranged price, what else? Well, as a fan of the interconnected smart home, what I’d hope is that it has something like thread built in to make it play nice with matter matter is an upcoming smart home standard that will let devices from apple and Amazon and Google all [00:03:00] play together nicely. I’m really excited about it. And those three giants along with a number of other companies are already on board now matter does work with a number of signals, Bluetooth and ZigBee and so on. But the relatively new thread signal is at its heart. If the new home pod has thread built in that could make it a more seamless part of your smart home. And that one simple fix would go against what the analyst said and show that apple is really starting [00:03:30] to get the smart home space, but it would go against what the analyst said.
Speaker 1: So that makes it more of an unlikely pie in the sky element on the wishlist, even though it’s simple, especially because apple still doesn’t let ordinary signals like Bluetooth send music to its current home pots. Apple has always marched to its own beat, expect that to continue. Even with this new home pod, I wouldn’t even rule out the possibility of them flying [00:04:00] in the face of logic and coming out with a home pod that’s even bigger and more expensive than the old model. Remember that thousand dollars monitor stand? Is this the most likely? No, but I don’t think it’s impossible. Maybe the home pod incorporates a screen finally and competes with the smart displays, like the nest hub and the echo show. My dream would be for a $50 home pod mini or something like that, or something completely crazy like a home pod robot [00:04:30] to compete with Amazon’s Astro.
Speaker 1: The apple smart display is probably the most likely of the bunch, but realistically, none of these are gonna happen. We hopefully don’t have to wait much longer to find out what apple actually has in store. The most likely bet is something between the numbers of the current mini and the original home pod though, if I get one long shot, wish I’m crossing my fingers for something related to matter. Even if it’s not full thread compatibility, though, [00:05:00] I still really want full thread compatibility. What about you? Let me know what you’d want in a new home pod in the comments below and check the links. If you’re ready to purchase the current home pod mini. And also let me know if a $200 home pod that looks and sounds a lot, like the original would be something that would be exciting for you. Thank you very much for watching stay tuned to the channel. We’re gonna cover every bit of news that comes out of WWDC and please like, [00:05:30] and subscribe.
